DA's office plans to not seek execution of man on death row since 1978

Updated 3:00 am, Thursday, August 30, 2012

Anthony Pierce, 42, (inmate #587), was convicted of killing fast-food restaurant manager Fred Johnson during a robbery on August 4, 1977. Pierce's scores on three IQ tests ranged from 67 to 74.

Anthony Pierce, 42, (inmate #587), was convicted of killing fast-food restaurant manager Fred Johnson during a robbery on August 4, 1977. Pierce's scores on three IQ tests ranged from 67 to 74.

DA's office plans to not seek execution of man on death row since 1978

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After three convictions and death sentences, all of which were at least partially overturned on appeal, the Harris County District Attorney's Office plans to drop efforts to execute Anthony Pierce, who has been on death row since 1978.

"I expect he will get a life sentence," Assistant District Attorney Lance Long said of a hearing set for Thursday in state District Judge Denise Collins' court.

That sentence would be applied under state laws in force at the time of Pierce's August 1977 murder of fried chicken restaurant manger Fred Johnson, 40, meaning that he could be eligible for parole consideration.

"I'm not going to discuss what's taking place before the pardons and parole board," Long said Wednesday, adding that he also would not explain why prosecutors have decided not to seek execution.

Pierce, 53, who has spent more time on death row than all but two of its current residents, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death on three occasions, most recently in 1986.

Appeals courts tossed the first two convictions because of jury selection problems. Two years ago, a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit threw out the last trial's punishment phase because jurors were kept from hearing mitigating evidence as required by law.

A new punishment phase was set for Collins' court on Sept. 10.

Pierce's attorney, Robert K. Loper, hailed the decision to drop efforts to execute his client, noting that the one-time Houston laborer consistently has proclaimed his innocence. Loper said seating a jury for a new punishment trial likely would have taken about three weeks, and prosecutors would have had to present evidence regarding the crime.

Former Houston Police Detective Johnny Bonds, though, decried the decision to not seek execution, saying that Pierce is a violent man who "will kill again."

"He's an animal," Bonds said.

Bonds, who investigated the Aug. 4, 1977, murder at the Church's Fried Chicken restaurant at 7423 Cullen Blvd., said Pierce had "a long string of juvenile offenses," including a robbery at the same restaurant.

As Johnson held his hands up during the robbery, Pierce told the restaurant manager, "I've been meaning to kill you for a long time," and fired a fatal shot, Bonds said. "It wasn't even the same man," the former detective said.

Pierce also has been convicted of manslaughter for fatally stabbing a fellow inmate in 1979. Killed in the attack was 37-year-old Edward King, who had been condemned for killing a Dallas police officer.